Project Ariyah's Orijin

[BudgetMODz]

Hi everyone.

This is my first ever build log so please bear with me, but it is by no means my first PC build. The project name comes from my 2 youngest daughters, Ariyah and Orijin.

As background, due to some temporary financial issues I was forced to sell my beloved PC a few months ago and now that's mostly sorted I am starting to build a new one.

This is going to take some time, updates to this log will most likely be weekly (I'm paid weekly so will be buying parts on a weekly basis) and that's also mostly deliberate... I was forever changing my last build because I was always in a rush and would just settle for whatever I could find in stock at the time, instead of just waiting and buying what I actually wanted / needed. This time around I am still limited by a budget, but I am willing to take my time to get everything exactly right the first time.

This is going to be a pure gaming PC with a nice aesthetic and fully watercooled. The following specs are planned for this build:

Case - Thermaltake The Tower 900 (white)

Mobo - MSI X570s MPG CARBON MAX WIFI

CPU - Ryzen 5 5600x or 7 5800x, I'm undecided if the extra cores are worth the heat.

GPU - This is the most difficult part and will most likely be the last part I buy (unless some generous hardware rep decides to sponsor me with one ), I'm aiming for at least an RTX 3070 / RX 6800 but if GPU prices don't sort themselves out I might end up with a GT430 at this rate lol!

RAM - Corsair Vengeance RT white 3600mhz 32GB.

Storage - WD Black PCIe4 1TB for OS, probably WD Blue PCIe3 1TB(s) for games, but will just see what the best deals are when I'm ready to buy as performance doesn't really matter for game storage. I don't want a mechanical drive, or Sata, I'm aiming for minimal noise and cable clutter.

PSU - 850W Seasonic Focus GX.

Cooling - 2x 560mm Alphacool XT45 or UT60 with Artic P14 fans
XSPC D5 with Barrow top
Random no brand tube res I have in my spares box
CPU block will likely be the Alphacool Nexxos or Watercool Heatkiller
GPU block will be whatever I can find for whatever GPU I can get.
Fittings will be all Barrow or Bykski hard-line as I've had good experience with them and they're cheap(ish) compared to other brands.
Hardline tubes, likely 14mm, and clear premix coolant.

Mods / my vision:

Everyone I've seen with this case does the "mini screen in the hard drive bays and dual loop / dual res" thing... I'm going to do this differently. My pump and res will be in the back, only the tubing and blocks will be viewable.

I'm planning to put a sheet of Plexiglass going from the top of the front bottom air inlets (where the 5.25 bay is) angled up to just below the upper cable management holes. This will (hopefully) be large enough to incorporate an old 17" monitor I have laying around, along with the project name back lit with aRGB strips either side... This is hard to explain, but will make sense once I have the case next week, confirm my assumed measurements, and actually get it done. If there's room for a fan, I will be adding one to help with general motherboard cooling. If the spare screen I have won't fit, I'll look for something smaller that will. The only water cooling tubes visible in the front will be one either side of this plate, going up to the GPU, across to the CPU, and back down symmetrically with pass through fittings.

All cables will be custom sleeved by me, in a mostly white with pink and dark blue to make it pop. The CPU EPS cable will definitely be made from scratch as stock cable has no chance of reaching while being cleanly routed, but I might be able to get away with just sleeving the stock cables for everything else, I'll know for sure once the case arrives.

Updates to follow, and I'm really looking forward to getting this project started.

I'm going to be concentrating on doing the case mods and wiring first, then the cooling system in the back, before finally the actual working components. As such, the above component spec may change depending on how long everything takes and any new releases.

The PSU came today, the case is due next week, and I'm just waiting on the sleeving coming from China to get on with the cables.

 

[BudgetMODz]

*Reserved for final pics*

 

[BudgetMODz]

This is my previous build in the obligatory Lian Li o11 dynamic. It's a great case to work with but surprisingly cramped for a case specifically designed for watercooling. I was undecided whether to go big on my next build or try an ITX... And then my partner made that decision for me by buying the tower 900 as my Christmas present.

 

[BudgetMODz]

Question: how do i get images to actually display on my posts? I've tried the image url button on the editing bar but that doesn't appear to work?

 

[BudgetMODz]

This will be my cable configuration for the main cables. I used the cable configurator on cablemods to get the scheme right, but will actually be doing the sleeving myself as I can get just as good results for a third of the price. Yes it's time consuming, but gives me something to do between buying other parts.

As previously stated the CPU EPS (4+8 pin) will definitely need to be custom length, I'm estimating around 1m to allow for a clean routing.

I'm making this with 16awg wire that has thinner than normal insulation so despite being thicker and better suited for increased cable length, actually still works perfectly in my cheap "Bezo's special" ratcheting crimper that was only supposed to go up to 18awg and cost me the best part of £12; I've tested and confirmed this with some spare wire, sleeving and terminals left over from my last build but will need to order more for this build:

 

[Digital X]

For images to work click the image button and paste the imgur URL in the box that pops up. Like this:

 

[BudgetMODz]

For images to work click the image button and paste the imgur URL in the box that pops up. Like this:

Can you see them? All I get when I do that is this:

https://imgur.com/a/63cxkl6

 

[Digital X]

Nope, still the URL. Are you pasting the entire URL in that pop up box? http etc?

 

[BudgetMODz]

Nope, still the URL. Are you pasting the entire URL in that pop up box? http etc?

Yep:

https://imgur.com/gallery/XmW5poS

 

[Digital X]

Maybe it's the mobile browser being funny, try it on desktop.

 

[BudgetMODz]

Trying the "desktop" version on my phone still doesn't work, I'll try it on my partners laptop tomorrow as I'm off to work soon.

 

[BudgetMODz]

Not had chance to get on and sort pictures out yet, and not much to update... Been a crazy week.

The original seller of the case cancelled the order and went out of stock, another favourite retailer of mine bumped the price up to £300, so I very nearly gave up and settled for my second choice case which is the RAIJINTEK PAEAN Premium and put my vision to rest.

Thankfully, just before I hit the order button I managed to get the tower 900 from Bezos for slightly less than I originally paid (£205 with free delivery, rather than £200 + £16 delivery), but unfortunately as it's coming from a third party seller it won't be delivered until the 16th - 17th December so that delays things as I can't even start the cables until I can measure out the custom lengths.

All the other bits required such as sleeving, connectors and pins, and cable management clips will be here by Tuesday though so at least I'll have everything ready to crack on at the weekend.

Another slight disaster... The old monitor I was planning to use inside to take up all that wasted space in the bottom turned out to actually be a 19" model so it's about 20mm wider than the case. I have 2 options... Scrap it and buy a smaller screen, or attempt to do a snowblind mod (I've never tried).

I've decided I will attempt the snowblind mod first, and if I break it I'll look for a smaller screen and go back to my original plan.

Having rough measured the screen and placing it in portrait I estimate it will have borders either side of around 150mm which I will blank off with vinyl wrap either side incorporating the project name cut out to allow it to light up, my partner owns a Cricut which will handle this and just so happens to have a vinyl width of 149.9mm (happy coincidence!).

The top and bottom borders I'm not sure about, but guesstimates put the bottom roughly in line with the fan mount on top of the hard drive cage so I'm thinking create a flat horizontal false floor with plexi at that height and mounting the control board underneath it, then using a combination of Cricut designs and paint to make it more interesting. I still want some aRGB illumination behind it, but the snowblind will be lit by some white LED strips either side that are left over from some under cupboard lighting I did in my kitchen last year, I'm hoping this will be bright enough.

That's about it for now, can't really do anything until the case finally arrives.

 

[BudgetMODz]

Well they do say bad luck comes in 3's... I have just received a message from the seller saying that their supplier are having stock issues and they can't confirm a delivery date for the case, do I want to wait or cancel?

I've asked them if they can offer the black version as an alternative, it's £50 more on their website but is at least in stock. Auto-reply says they're out of the office for the weekend and will respond on Monday, so that's my weekend screwed while I wait to find out if this project of mine is a wash.

Honestly gutted, it's like history repeating itself... Years ago I wanted the Mozart TX and even drew up plans for mods on my school book covers, then by the time I was earning enough to buy one it was out of stock and practically erased from history.

There's nothing else on the market that even comes close to allowing the customisation I want.

 

[BudgetMODz]

So... The seller refused to send the black version as an alternative but was "authorised to let [me] make a second order for the black one and then issue a refund for the white version"... Yeah alright then, that was never going to happen.

After some wrangling I got my money back and thanks to my wonderful partner putting the extra to it I finally have a black tower 900 dispatched and on it's way.

Apparently this will be here tomorrow, but as it's Yodel handling the delivery I won't hold my breath on that.

In the meantime, some goodies arrived ready to get started as soon as the case arrives to get the measurements.

The pink is a bit brighter than expected but I think this will look good against the black case.

Cable management clips are also a bit smaller than expected and the small ones in particular look pretty much useless for anything bigger than un-sleeved fan cables, but will still all help with tidying things up.



Still unable to get pictures to display on the post, but will have another go at it and clean up the comments at the weekend when I've got more time to mess about.

 

[BudgetMODz]

Case finally arrived this afternoon, only 2 days later than it was supposed to and only took about 20 angry messages to Yodel which is pretty good for them really.

It is literally the size of a small child, I love it!


Started the custom power cables which are looking good so far, still plenty more to do and waiting on my combs to come to help measure the lengths with the final curves and ensure they are organised correctly when it comes to pinning the psu side.





I have an aquacomputer octo coming tonight whenever Amazon turns up, fans on Monday, casters and plexi on Thursday, and will be ordering the rads next week.

So glad to finally be getting this show on the road!

Unexpectedly I also received a code for 3 months of Game Pass with the Octo, it might be about that long until I have a working system to use it with but that was nice lol!

 

[BudgetMODz]

Spent today on cutting the new plate for the back wall out of 5mm plexiglass, started with a hand saw but this stuff is tough so sacked that off and broke out the jigsaw on a low speed.



Still need to cut holes for tubing and wires, mount some supports for the false floor, drill for my pump mount etc before I can paint it matt black to blend in with the case.

Also decided to take the monitor apart ready for the snowblind mod and to work out where the control board needed to be mounted... Unfortunately that all went terribly wrong:

Once the LCD was separated from the back light I thought "wow that's really dark, you can barely see through it" so set about removing what I thought was the anti glare coating... Nope, it was in fact the polarizing film so now it only displays very faintly and only when viewed from an angle... Doh!

Thanks to my sister in laws partner I have another 19" monitor on it's way and will try again, I've kinda got my heart set on doing it this way now, although my original plan my still is still there as an option.

I can't decide what to do with the centre console thing that comes with the case. I have no need for mechanical drives, although the option to have a dvd drive could be handy as this will be a living room pc and my youngest was recently given a large selection of kids dvds that we have no way of playing.

The top of the ODD bay also has pre drilled screw holes which would be ideal for mounting the false floor.

Unfortunately, for some random reason, thermaltake designed the top plate of the console (where the fan mounts) with a lip that protrudes towards the rear. Whilst that's fine in the stock configuration, my new rear wall gets in the way.

I could grind the protrusion off, but I'm unsure if I have the skills to do it neatly, and was hoping to avoid making any permanent mods to the case in case I want to change things in the future.

My other option would be to cut a slit in the plexi to fit it in, but again if I don't cut it absolutely perfect it's going to look rubbish.

I'm going to have to sleep on it and come back to that later.

Combs arrived just as I was setting off to work and brother in law is loaning me an old motherboard and cpu so can get the cables finished properly and tested this week.

 

[im4gine3]

for the images... since you are using Imgur (i'm sure other hosters work same way but i'm more familiar with Imgur), select the image you want to be seen here using the Direct Link code, click on the image button when making a post, and paste the code in there. That seems to be the only code type i've managed to get working.

 

[BudgetMODz]

for the images... since you are using Imgur (i'm sure other hosters work same way but i'm more familiar with Imgur), select the image you want to be seen here using the Direct Link code, click on the image button when making a post, and paste the code in there. That seems to be the only code type i've managed to get working.

I think I've sorted it, with your help, thank you.
I had been putting in the link generated by Imgur's "share" function, rather than copying the pictures image link... we should be good moving forward now.

 

[BudgetMODz]

So as it's Christmas this weekend (honestly would have forgot if the misses didn't just remind me, been one of those years lol!) I won't be able to get much done, if anything, and have packed it all away upstairs out of the way of our extended family coming for dinner.

However, I've been considering using a secondary PSU mounted in the front to support the false floor and provide power to the LEDs, Snowblind screen, and probably even my D5 and Octo to free up Watts on my primary 850W for the main components

If I run the pump and Octo off it, I will still have the pump rpm cable attached to the motherboard CPU fan header set to shut down in case of power or pump failure.

My question for those in the know is this:

To get the secondary PSU to start up and shut down along with the primary, am I right in thinking that I just need to bridge the Power OK (traditionally the green wire) between the two PSU by linking a double wire between them, along with doing the same thing for one of the ground wires?

I know there are extensions and products such as add2psu that do this, but if that's all it needs and I'm already making custom cables for the primary psu anyway then a couple of extra double wires isn't that much of a job.

 

[BudgetMODz]

Not much to update except to say merry Christmas to you all.

I've changed plans on the radiators and ordered the OEM version of the Black Ice NEMESIS extreme (the "LX") 480mm for one side, and will use an Alphacool Monsta 240mm I found in my spares box on the opposite side.

It's less radiator space than initially planned, but much cheaper and still massively overkill for the components I'm wanting to cool.

The Monsta is beaten, battered and abused so will require a respray and some tlc, but the extra ports will definitely come in handy for the loop layout I've planned for the back, as well as water temperature monitoring without resorting to adding extra fittings and T-blocks.

It will hopefully also allow the use of the 3.5" drive mounts on the side... Although I was initially dead set against using any kind of mechanical storage, the more I look at the size of my steam/gog/epic/uplay/origin libraries and consider the convenience of having as much pre installed as humanly possible, the more I feel like I should probably be a bit more realistic in terms of cost per gigabyte. This at least gives me the option in the long term, rather than completely removing the option.